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Philip Morris USA Sues to Stop Counterfeit Cigarette Sales
Latest Step in Company Effort to Protect Brands and Legitimate Trade Channels
RICHMOND, VA (January 22, 2010) - Philip Morris USA (PM USA) filed a lawsuit today against G.J. Smokes for selling counterfeit versions of the company’s Marlboro® brand cigarettes. The lawsuit is part of the company’s efforts to stop the sale of counterfeit cigarettes in New York and the unauthorized use of PM USA’s trademarks.
“G.J. Smokes is the fifth Mastic location in less than a year that we have sued for selling counterfeit product,” said Joe Murillo, vice president and associate general counsel, Altria Client Services, speaking on behalf of PM USA. PM USA estimates only about 20 smoke shops operate on the Poospatuck reservation.
In addition to violating many trademark laws, counterfeit cigarettes are almost always sold without the appropriate federal and state excise tax. The counterfeit cigarettes purchased from G.J. Smokes bore no genuine tax stamp. As a result, the applicable excise taxes were not paid. “This underscores the need for the state of New York to end its non-enforcement policy and begin collecting the excise tax on cigarettes sold through Native American outlets,” said Murillo.
The purchase of cartons of counterfeit versions of Marlboro® brand cigarettes by company agents prompted the lawsuit. Today’s lawsuit follows similar suits filed against four other smoke shops in Mastic, N.Y. in 2009, for selling counterfeit versions of Marlboro® brand cigarettes. In those cases, PM USA worked with Suffolk County authorities who raided the four smoke shops and seized 487 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes bearing Marlboro brand trademarks.
Since May 2009, PM USA has filed lawsuits against 27 retail locations in New York and New Jersey for selling counterfeit Marlboro® brand cigarettes. The company also continues to advocate for legislative solutions to New York’s complex contraband cigarette trade issues.
